We all face daily challenges in working towards our goals and Trans World Radio is no exception. In keeping the Gospel on the air TWR faces constant technical battles. Take for instance the transmission tower in Swaziland. The Swaziland Medium Wave (AM) Towers Guy Wire Replacement Project was set in place and commissioned to replace the 15-year old existing Nuplaglass guy rods with new Phillystran guy ropes and hardware.
During an inspection climb made by Chad Creed in July 2006 and the subsequent notes observed from commentary and pictures, concern was raised when it was noted that the top guy level on the east tower was starting to deteriorate. Chad observed that he was able to push his fingernail into the Nuplaglass guy wire at the top level. From discussions with Chad, it appeared that the outer protective layer of epoxy paint had weathered away, exposing the underlying fiberglass strands and resin to the UV rays of sunlight. This led to deterioration of the resin so that the rod was brittle and started to crumble. The top guy rod was replaced with a spare and upon further inspection it was found that initial concerns were confirmed. Nuplaglass guy rods were originally ordered in September of 1991 and installation was completed by Jack Ryan on the 18th of May 1992. The guys had been in service for over 14 years. It was decided to replace the guy assemblies on both towers.
TWR technical support team members from Swaziland and South Africa set out to complete this arduous assignment.
On Tuesday the 3rd of June 2008 the condition of the Phillystran was inspected and the new guy cables were unpacked. Each of the guy levels were colour coded by electrical tape to make it easier to identify the guys during assembly. The team then wrapped about a meter of each end of the Phillystran guys with two layers of Scotch Electrical tape half lapped in each direction, taking care to install the final lap starting from the bottom direction of the guy and working towards the top end in order to prevent water from collecting underneath the laps of the tape.
Lee Lowell found that the ½” thimbles which were ordered for the project did not fit into the clevis of the Phillystran corona sockets. He looked around in the rigging room and found twenty-four thimbles that would fit.
By Wednesday, 04 June the team proceeded to replace the guy wires on level two. Mark Blosser
did the climbing and all three guys were replaced. A small 900-watt generator was brought with the team from Johannesburg and proved to be very helpful when it came time to cut and dress the guy ends.
On Thursday they installed the last guy on level three. Tension was taken up on the guy and suddenly Klaus noticed that some of the diagonal braces were bending. He and Salema descended off the tower very rapidly and ran away from the base of the tower. They checked the tension on the temporary guy and it was only at 500 lbs. It was determined that because of the horizontal stress at that low angle that the tower was being subjected to stresses beyond design limitations. All the tension from the temporary guy was removed and Mark Blosser offered to go up and move it closer to the horizontal bar. It was noted that in future temporary guying of these sections, an arrangement should be made to ensure that the stresses are confined to the area of the tower that has the reinforced horizontal bar.
They completed the final two guys on level one and cleaned up the site. The tower was then tensioned to specification and plumbed and the guy anchors were safety wired. The next day the east tower was tensioned and plumbed, all the “dead ends” were wrapped off and the turnbuckles at the guy points were safety wired.
So ended a successful project to ensure that God’s Word continues to be broadcast to people across Southern Africa.
Published 15 July 2008 |
